


And All The Stars That Scream

by Iamprongsie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fives was right and Cody needs to figure that out quick smart, I just had to get the first chapter out before I lost all hope for it, I swear I'm gonna finish this wip, M/M, Order 66, The Chip Conspiracy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 08:02:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18220424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamprongsie/pseuds/Iamprongsie
Summary: In the glass is a little chip, about two centimetres by one centimetre. Cody's taken aback. At first this all sounded like a flight of fancy, a remembrance for friends that marched away too soon. But now, with the evidence in his hands and on hisriduur'stemple, it's looking like this might be real."I- I don't have the dreams, Rex, what are you talking about?""Don't give me that bullshit, Cody. I share your bed, we both have the dreams. Kriff, I can't count the number of times I've stood in front of the General's corpse, how many times I shoot at Tano. This isreal, Codes."





	And All The Stars That Scream

**Coruscant, 19 BBY**

Cody’s struggling with a mass of paperwork when he hears Rex walk into their office. His tread is slow and uneven, and if Cody didn’t know better, he’d assume that Rex has been drinking. However, neither of them have drunk since that one fateful day after Umbara where everything that had happened finally hit them and they drank so much they passed out. Cody turns around and lets out a gasp; Rex is pale and shaky, and his hair is gone. The bags under his eyes are even more pronounced than usual, and his eyes have lost that familiar shine. 

This look is all too familiar, from Umbara and even from Fives’ and Tup’s deaths, almost a month ago. 

“Rex, _cyare_ , are you alright?” He jumps up out of his chair and walks over to his husband, noting the other’s shaking hands. 

“Fives was right.”

“What?”

"These chips, they're in our heads. They turn us into _droids_ , Cody, tinnies. You need to take yours out."

“Rex, what are you talking about? Fives was sick! So was Tup!”

Rex shakes his head stubbornly and moves to sit down; Cody stands aside and lets him. “Fives was right. There are chips in our heads, they’re controlling us! We need to leave, now. It’s not safe for us anymore.”

"Rex, my loyalty's to the Republic, to the Jedi. I can't desert! My men need me! Your men need you. I know Fives' death messed you up, kriff, it messed us all up. But these chips can't be real."

Rex stands up and presses a piece of glass into Cody's hand, then points at the healing scar on his own head. "That's all the proof I got, _cyare_. But Fives had a scar right here too. And Kix was working on this before he was taken. I know it's real, it has to be! You know the contingency orders! You've had the dreams!"

In the glass is a little chip, about two centimetres by one centimetre. Cody's taken aback. At first this all sounded like a flight of fancy, a remembrance for friends that marched away too soon. But now, with the evidence in his hands and on his _riduur's_ temple, it's looking like this might be real.

"I- I don't have the dreams, Rex, what are you talking about?"

"Don't give me that bullshit, Cody," Rex snaps, "I share your bed, we both have the dreams. Kriff, I can't count the number of times I've stood in front of the General's corpse, how many times I shoot at Tano. This is _real_ , Codes."

This is looking realer and realer, Cody agrees. But he has a duty to the Republic, to Kenobi and his men. They both have a duty. 

"It might be, but we're loyal to the Republic. We swore an oath!"

Rex abruptly takes a step back and jams his helmet on his head, then turns around and takes the piece of glass from Cody’s hand. “I thought you would have listened to me, _riduur_. Or did the _riduurok_ not mean anything?”

“Rex, I-”

“Save it. I’m trying to save _you_ , trying to save the _vod’e_! Someone out there’s running a conspiracy against us! _Please_ , just listen to me! Where’s your loyalty?”

This debate is part of Cody’s deepest psyche. Sure, he’s loyal, but to _what_? He’s loyal to the 212th. He’s loyal to Kenobi. Hell, he’s even loyal to _Skywalker_. And Tano too, once upon a time. He’s loyal to _Rex_. But Rex is not the Republic. And while he swore an oath to both of them, _Mhi solus tome, Mhi solus dar’tome_ is prominent in his memory, right along with the oath he swore to the Republic. He can’t make himself choose. 

He can be loyal to two things, but not when they’re pulling him in opposite directions. Something has to give. 

Rex stops pacing the room and seems to come to a decision. 

“Ok. I know it’s hard for you to make personal decisions, so listen to this,” His voice comes through the helmet, clipped and angry. “We need to find a way to get these chips out. I’ve lost my CMO, and he was the only one that knew how to do the chips. I’m going to go find someone to do it. You can come with me, or you can stay. But I’m leaving tonight, with or without you.”

Cody sits down hard and puts his head in his hands. He can’t leave, but he can’t stay. Something has to give. 

“I'm not leaving. I'm sorry.”

Rex stares at him through the helmet. He then turns around and walks out, using hand signals to tell Cody that he’s going to the barracks, and not to follow him. 

That’s the last thing Cody ever sees from Rex. When he finally makes it through the pile of paperwork (and that’s made a lot harder now that he’s preoccupied with Rex’s departure) and makes it back to the rack he shares with Rex in the officer’s quarters, Rex is gone. He even goes next door to the 501st barracks to check if Rex is there. He isn’t there. 

Cody goes back to the officers quarters and tries to sleep, but he ends up lying awake, waiting for Rex to come in and for everything to go back to normal. When reveille sounds the next morning, Rex is still nowhere to be found. Cody finds out that Wolffe has gone missing as well, and Gregor. 

Cody is the one to issue the orders against the three of them, marking them as traitors to the Republic. The only thing that keeps him going through that first awful day is the thought of his hidden alcohol stash. Rex is supposed to be here, with him. This is their first real leave since Kadavo; they were going to enjoy it. They weren’t meant to be apart, a traitor and the person left behind. 

Still, Rex is now a traitor, and he has to accept that. Just like he has to accept that they’re slowly losing the war, that the chips could pose an actual threat, that Wolffe, his oldest friend, is also a traitor, that everything is falling apart in front of him. 

He finds himself unable to sleep at night, keeps staying up and replaying that final night in his head, wondering what he could have done differently. He runs on autopilot all throughout leave, and barely notes the massive command changes happening over in the 501st. The battle of Coruscant rolls around, and Cody’s on the deck of a star destroyer calmly commanding troops while Kenobi and Skywalker tangle with Grievous himself. 

He’s on full alert for Utapau, because this is it. The war could be won, just as soon as Grievous is killed. Maybe then Rex can come home. Grievous is dead and Kenobi is alive and then Cody gets that final holocall from the Chancellor, telling him to _execute order 66_.

 _Rex was right_ is his final thought before Cody dies and is replaced with CC-2224, Marshal Commander of the 212th Battalion, the Third Systems Army, and the Seventh Sky Corps. 

Then CC-2224 fires on General Kenobi - now a traitor to the Empire. Because CC-2224 is a good soldier, and good soldiers follow orders.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/Kudos are always welcome! Also, come hang out on [my tumblr!](http://www.pidgeonkatie.tumblr.com) I love talking to people on there!


End file.
